Welcome to another Fresh Milk Friday at Local Milk! Emily here, sharing with you what’s been on my mind this week that has brought me joy: flowers.
I have been taking many much-needed walks lately in our neighborhood with my daughter. My daughter Lou was born at the end of January, so these walks tend to look like me pushing her in her stroller while she (hopefully) takes a nap. I began to look forward to our neighborhood outings more and more starting in April because, for one, they are a respite from long (and somehow also very short) days spent in the house together, and also because that is when the cherry blossoms started blooming.
Now we are in the midst of a flower-blooming symphony here in Washington, and it is my most favorite time of the year. Right now, the rhododendrons, our state flower, are on the wane after an early May explosion. The peonies are just beginning to bud, and the foxgloves have started to open. The flowers I most anticipate, the poppies, are in full swing.
Each time we step out of the house, we are each a little older, a little better at the dance of mother and daughter. As I stand on the sidewalk next to her stroller, taking yet another video or photo of a flower with my iPhone, I hope that one day we can share the joy of flowers together. Picking flowers, pulling weeds, walking hand in hand with a flower tucked behind an ear.
If you can get out on a safe and socially distanced walk soon, take the long way home and pay attention to what might be blooming where you live.
This week’s Fresh Milk round-up celebrates the joy of flowers as an ode to this season of new life. A book of poetry, the perfect sun hat, a thoughtfully composed portrait of a bearded iris. I hope you enjoy this list and have a sunny weekend.
The Joy of Flowers Round-up
- The flower fairy Amy Merrick’s book On Flowers.
- So many beautiful floral still-life compositions in Jamie Beck’s Isolation Creation series.
- Chelsea O’Leary’s print shop launched today with this bearded iris captured on film.
- Erin Boyle shares her recipe for an oh-so-seasonal rhubarb lilac spritzer.
- How to weave a floral crown from the Local Milk archives.
- A book of poetry about flowers from Rupi Kaur.
- Why gardening is good for the soul from June Home Supply.
- The sun hat we want to garden in this year.
- Honey bee wildflower seed mix (help save the bees)!
- The latest episode of Cultivating Place Podcast: The Comfort of Roses.